Bottle-washing machine



G. J; MEYER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.l

APPLICATON FILED AUG.27|1917.

QLQQ@ PatentedSept. 26, 1922s,

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

l I. .1 I

G. J. MEYER.

BOTTLE WASHING' MACHINE.

APPLICATION FlLED'AUG-27. 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Sept. 226

G. I. MEYER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27. ISI?.

Patented sept. 26, '1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wai" r' 2;... .I I r '.an 85 IIIIIIII IIIIIII G. J. MEYER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APFLlcMloN FILED AUG.27.1917.

'1,42%96@ mendsepf. 26, 1922.,

' 4 sUEETs-SHEET 4.

www@

cpt. 26, 81922..l

PATENT OFFICE-:.1

GEORGE J'. MEYER, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

BOTTLE-'WASHING MACHINE.

Application filed August 27, 1917. Serial No. 188,415.

To all whom t may concern.:

' Be it known that I, GEoRGE J. MEYER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Washing Machines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.y

This invention has for its vobject to provide a bottle washing machine with means for lifting a row of bottles from the bottle conveyor and moving them between rotating cleaning brushes for thoroughly cleaning the outside of the. bottles, said means operating to'rotate the bottles as well as lift them.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a bottle Washing machine with a means for feeding the bottle carrying chain so as to present the rows of bottles successively to the bottle lifting and cleaning mechanism, the feeding movement being timed with respect to the movements of the bottle lifting spindles and taking lace at intervals permitting of a repeated ongitudinal reciprocation of said spindles to carry the bottles between the cleaning brushes several times before the chain is moved to carry them away.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the bottle washing machine as herein claimed and all equivalents.

`Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts in different views:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a bottle washing machine embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of a portion thereof on the other side of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the bottle elevating and spinning mechanism, holding a row ofl bottles between the cleaning brushes;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing one of the chain feeding arms and its engagement with the bottle carrying chain; and,

i Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the machine on the plane of 1ine'5-5 of Fig. 2.

Tn these drawings indicates a supporting frame and 11 a soaker from which the invention. The chains are of the roller type with their rollers 13 traveling on angle iron tracks 14. The links of the two chains are connected by transversely extending bottle carriers 15 having pockets for containing a number of bott-les heldin an inverted position With their necks and bottoms free.

The bottle conveyor is given an intermittent movement to bring one carrier after another to the various operating points in their path of travel by means of pusher bars 16 having engaging teeth 17 engaging between the rollers of the chains, as shown in Fig. 4. These pusher bars 16 are connected at one end with cranks 18 on a suitably operated rock shaft 19, while at their.

other ends they are connected by means of connecting rods 20 with levers 21 which opcrate the bottle clamping mechanism, as will be later described, the function performed 24 on a shaft 25. This shaft 25 is driven in an indirect manner by a motor 26 on a rocking bracket 27.

Vertical guides 28 on which the levers 21 are mounted constitute guides for directing the vertical movement of a gear box 29 carried on the ends of walking beams 30 which are suspended from the frame by links 31 and have counterweights 32 for counterbalancing the `weight of the gear box and parts carried thereby. A shaft 33 on the gear boX is driven by a belt 34 from the motor 26 and in turn, through a chain 35, drives a shaft 36 which connects the two fulcrum points of the Walking beams 30.` This shaft 36 has a chain connection 37 with a shaft 38 connecting the upper ends of the links 31. A pinion 39 on shaft 38 meshes with a gear wheel 40 on shaft 25 and thus the driving connection is made from the motor to the shaft 25, as before mentioned.

The shaft 25 has a pinion 41 meshing with a large cam gear 42, preferably with a .gear ratio of one to three. The cam gear 42 1s on a shaft 43 and constitutes the operating means for several parts of the mechanism, eachv revolution of said shaft determimng one cycle of operation ofthe machine.

A lifting lever 44, fulcrumed on the frame, has rollers riding in a cam groove 45 in the face of the cam gear 42, and a link 46 connects it with one of the levers 21. rl`he two levers 21 on opposite sides of the machine are mounted on a shaft 47, and the opposite ends of said levers are connected by connecting rods 48 and 49 with an upper bottle clamping mechanism 50 and a lower bottle clamping mechanism 51, which are slidably mounted in the guides 28. A description of the details of this bottle clamping mechanism is not necessary to an understanding of the present invention. lt is sulicient to explain that the funnel-like bottle engaging means 52 on the lower bottle clamping mechanism 51 are provided with suitably controlled water connections for injecting water into the bottles for rinsing them before and after they are operated upon by brush spindles carried by the vertically reciprocating gear box 29. These brush spindles are rotated by the shaft 33 and are supplied with water for cleaning the interior of the bottles. v

rlhe exterior cleaning of the bottles, however, precedes the operation of the interior cleaning mechanism. Guide shafts 53 rigidly positioned at the sides of the frame have brush frames 54 slidably mounted on their upper ends with adjusting screws 55 bearing on said shafts for raising and lowering the frames. Horizontally slidable in the frames 54 are bearing boxes 56 adjustable toward or away from each other by means of adjusting screws 57. Shafts 58 are journaled in these bearing boxes 56 and carry cylindrical brushes 59 bearing on the bottoms of the rows of bottles which are positioned directly therebeneath when the conveyor chain p-auses between the feeding movements thereof.

The brushes 59 are rotated in opposite directions by a chain 60 from a sprocket wheel 61 on the shaft 38 and passing around sprocket wheels 62 on the ends of the brush shafts 58 and also around an idle sprocket 63 mounted on a swinging arm and operated b an adjusting screw 64 to constitute a c ain tightener.

'Secured to the vertical guides 53 is a guide cross head 65 in which there are rotatably mounted a series of sleeves 66 with diagonal toothed pinions 67 at their lower ends and clamping collars 68 at their upper ends. The sleeves have openings passing centrally through them, which openlngs are square in cross section to fit upon square spindles 69. The spindles 69 have rounded enlargements 70 at their lower ends bearing in sockets in a lifter cross head 71, which is slidably Macnee ing movement is .given to the lifter cross head by a connecting rod 77 connecting one of the arms 74 with a crank arm 78 on shaft 43. At their upper ends the spindles 69 are provided with pointed tips 79 to enter the necks of the bottles which pause directly therea'bove, and conical shoulders on the tips engage the mouths of the bottles to cause the bottles to be lifted by the spindles out of the pockets of the carriers 15 and up between the brushes 59. rlhis engagement of the conical shoulders of the tips 79 with the mouths of the bottles also causes the bottles to bekturned-by the turning movements of the spindles. These turning movements of the spindles are caused by the diagonal toothed pinions 67 meshing with similar pinions 80 on a. shaft 81, which is journaled in bearings on the guide cross head 65 and is driven by a sprocket wheel 82 thereon engaging the chain 60 which drives the rotary brushes.

In the lower position of the lifter cross head 71, as shown in Fig. 5, the tips 79 of the spindles lie centrally within the funnels of a funnel bar 83, which forms an end extension from the lower bottle clamping mechanism 51 and, while these funnels move upwardly against the bottles in the same manner as the funnels 52 of the clamping means, they have no cooperating clamp above the bottlesk and consequently merely center the bottles in position to receive the tips of the spindles so that they may be lifted thereby. The spindle tips are elongated to have a bearing within the bottle necks some distance above the mouths when the latter are supported on the conical shoulders so that the bottles will be held upright on the spindles. As a further means for retaining the bottles upright on their rotating spindles, they are projected into a series of cells 84 suitably supported above the brushes. A water pipe, not shown, is provided for spraying water yon to the brushes 59. By way of explanation of the other operating parts,y incidentally shown, it may be stated that the counterbalanced walking 'beams 30 for lifting the gear box 29 with the brush spindles are connected by a link 85 with one arm of a bell crank 86, the other armnof which is connected by a link 87 with a Wrist pin on the cam gear `wheel 42. Furthermore, the arm 88 on shaft 47 is connected by a link 89 with a pivotally supi roller which travels in the cam groove 45 of the driving gear 42.

Tn operation the conveyor chain is given a step by step feeding movement by means of lifting the pushers 16 which accomplish the feeding movement quickly and then move out of vrange of engagement to permit the chain to remain at rest during the return stroke and during Ithe two succeeding forward and return strokes of said pushers. As the link connections 20 between the pushers 16 and the levers 21 of the clamping mechanism serve to hold the pushers elevated out of reach of the chains, as shown in Fig. 3, as long as the clamping mechanism is engaged with the bottles, or, in other words, throughout three-quarters of the cycle of operation of the machine during which the roller of the arm 44 travels through the concentric portion of the cam groove,.the recipro` cations of the pushers in the meanwhile, incident to the one to three ratio of the gears 41 and 42,` are inelfective for producing movement of the conveyor chain. The movement of the chain is thus timed to correspond with the release of the bottles by the clampingvmechanism.

. ith each feeding movement of the conveyor chains, a row of bottles is brought to rest directly above the spindles 69 and immediately the clamping mechanism is oper.` ated for clamping the bottles in the rinsing and internalcleanin positions thereof, but at the same time li ting the funnel bar 83 to center the bottle necks directly above the rotating spindles 69. The crank arm 78 on shaft 43, which has a single `revolution per cycle, begins to rise and lift the lifter cross head 71 so as to move the spindles 69 upwardly and enter their tips 79 in the bottles. The upward movement of the spindles continues lifting the bottles with their mouths seated on the conical enlargements of the spindle tips and imparting a rotation thereto as the spindles are being rapidly turned by their gear connection with the constantly rotating shaft 81. Thus mounted on and rotated by the spindles, the bottles are lifted between the brushes 59 which are turning in a direction opposed to their travel and into the cells 84, the brushes engaging every part of the outsides of the bottles from the bottoms to the mouths thereof. On the descending movement of the spindles, the bottles are lowered into the pockets of the carrier, the spindles are withdrawn therefrom and the funnel bar is lowered so that there is no obstruction to the travel of the bottles with the next feeding movement of the conve or',

ust before and just after the bottles are in alignment with the spindles 69, they stand directly beneath the brushes 59 to have their bottoms throughly cleaned thereby.

The rotary cleaning brushes 59 are adjusts able toward or away from each other by means of the adjusting screws 57. This enables them to be properly set to give the desired amount of clearance between them. The brushes may also be set farther away from or closer to the bottle conveyor to accommodate bottles of different lengths. This adjustment is accomplished by turning the adjusting screws 55 so as to raise or lower the brush frames 54. Y

I am aware of the fact that it has heretos fore been proposed to lift bottles from a4 spindle and consequently not opposing the movement of the bottles while they are being lifted. The present invention in these respects has the advantage that the bottle undergoes the cleaning operation during its movements and not only during the comparatively short time that it is in its highest position. The opposition of the cleaning brushes begins immediately at the beginning of the lifting movement of the bottle and tends to hold the bottle firmly on its seat on the revolving spindle so that the bottle is rotated by the spindle from the time that it leaves the bottle holder until Aits return thereto.

Furthermore, the present invention has the advantage in that the `bottles are moved end wise between a pair ofv parallel oppositely rotating brushes which are set close together so that they Contact with the bottle almost or entirely around the bottle. This produces a band of cleaning action which shifts from one end of the bottle to the other as the bottles moves between the brushes, the slow movement of the bottle, as the crank arm 24 passes its dead center, taking place while the bottle is in Vposition to have the crown finish subjected to the action`of the brushes.

Another advantage for the present invention is that ,it provides for cleaning the exterior of the bottles as soon. as they leave the soaker and before being rinsed and cleaned internally. This avoids the possibility of dirt Ygetting into the bottles after they have been c eaned inside.

Another advantage for this invention is that the arrangement of horizonta-l cleaning brushes is such that they serve to clean the bottoms of the bottles as well as the sides and mouths thereof, and separate brushes for cleaning the bottoms of the bottles are therefore not necessary.

Another advantage is due to the fact that the bottle lifting spindles enter the necks of the bottles a sulic-icnt distance to constitute supports therefor when the bottles are in their raised positions, as shown in F ig. 3, with their mouths` resting on the conical enlargements of the spindles which in no way interfere with the cleaning of the collars around the mouths. ylt is this collar of the bottle which is usually corroded with rust andunless it is thoroughly cleaned it may result in a failure to make a tight sealing closure when a cap iszagain fitted thereon. With the bottle supported on a lifting spindle entering the neck thereof, its entire exterior is exposed to the action of the cleaning brushes and particularly the collar portion thereof, as is seen in Fig. 3. lt is at this point in the cleaning that the dwell is produced so as to vprolong the operation of I the cleaning of the mouthland neck portion of the bottle, where cleaning is of greatest importance and presents the most diiliculties.

i l desire it to be understood that this invention is-not limited to any specific form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limltations are specified in the claims.

What l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bottle washing machine comprising a conveyor for carrying bottles in an inverted position, a pair of rotary brushes above the conveyor with their adjacent portions moving downwardly, and means entering and engaging within the necks of the bottles for lifting the bottles 0H of the conveyor and carrying them upwardly between the downwardly moving portions of the rotary brushes with their neck portions exposed to the action of the brushes.

2. ln a bottle washing machine, a bottle conveyor, parallel horizontal rotary cleaning brushes positioned above the conveyor and turning in such direction that their adjacent portions move downwardly, means entering the necks of the bottles for lifting them from the conveyor, and means for reciprocating the lifting means a number of times for moving the bottles back and forth between the downwardly moving portions of the brushes with their n`eck portions exposed to the action of the brushes.

3. In a bottle washing machine, a bottle conveyor, a pair of rota cleaning brushes above the conveyor turning in such direction that their adjacent portions move downwardly, and rotating means entering the necks of the bottles for lifting them from the conveyor and carrying them with a rotary motion between the downwardly moving portions of the brushes.

4. ln a bottle washing machine, a bottle conveyor, rotating cleaning brushes above the conveyor turning in such direction as to have their adjacent portions move downwardly, rotating and reciprocating means entering the necks of the bottles for moving the bottles from the conveyor, and means for reciprocating the rotating means a number of times for moving the bottles back and forth between the downwardly moving portions of the brushes and rotating them at the same time.

5. ln a bottle Washing machine, a bottle conveyor lfor carrying bottles in an inverted position, a pair of rotary brushes above the conveyor and across the path of travel thereof and turning in such direction that their adjacent portions move downwardly, said brushes being so positioned that they brush the bottoms of the bottles therebeneath, means entering the necks of the bottles for lifting them from the conveyor, and means for reciprocating the lifting means a number of times for moving the bottles betweenthe downwardly moving portions of the brushes.

6. ln a bottle washing machine, a bottle conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted position, a pair of oppositely moving rotary cleaning brushes above the conveyor engaging the bottoms of the bottles, and rotary spindles beneath the conveyor and adapted to rise and enter the necks of the bottles to lift the bottles between the oppositely moving brushes.

7. ln a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted position, rotary cleaning brushes above the conveyor, vertically movable centering means for engaging the bottle necks to center them, and lifting means passing through the centering means for entering the necks of the bottles to lift the bottles between the brushes and constitute the sole support for the bottles.

V8. n a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted position, rotary cleaning brushes above. the conveyor, vertically movable funnel-like centering guides for engaging and centering the necks of the bottles, and rotary spindles vertically movable within the centering funnels for entering the bottle necks to lift the bottles between the vbrushes and constitute the sole support for the bottles. f

9. In abottle washing machine, a bottle conveyor, a pair 'of parallel rotary cleaning brushes above the conveyor, means for adjusting the brushes closer together or farther apart, and means enterlng the necks of the bottles for lifting the bottles from the conveyor and moving them between the brushes.

10. In a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor, a pair of parallel rotary cleaning brushes above the conveyor, means for adjusting the brushes nearer to or farther from the conveyor, and means entering the necks of the bottles for lifting the bottles from the conveyor and moving them between the brushes.

11. 1n a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor, vertically adjustable brush frames, a pair of rotary cleaning brushes mounted in the brush frames and adjustable with relation to each other,'and means entering the necks of the bottles for lifting the bottles from the conveyor and moving them between the brushes.

12. ln a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor, a pair of rotary cleaning brushes above the conveyor, means for lifting the bottles from the conveyor and moving them between the brushes, and bottle enclosing 'cells above the brushes to receive the bottles when they pass between 'the brushes.

13. In a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted position, a vertically reciprocating lifter cross head beneath the conveyor, a series of bottle lifting spindles having end thrust bearing in the lifter cross head, a guide cross head, suitably driven sleeves within the drive cross head and having driving connection with the spindles, and bottle engaging means on the spindles to engage within the bottles and lift the bottles between the cleaning brushes.

14. In a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor for conducting vbottles in an inverted position, rotary cleaning brushes above the conveyor, vertical guide shafts, a suitably operated lifter cross head slidably mounted thereon', spindles carried by the lifter cross head, a guide cross head secured to the guide shafts, sleeves mounted in the guide cross head and splined on the spindles, a spindle driving shaft journaled in the guide cross head and having gear connection with the sleeves, and bottle engaging tips on the spindles wtih pointed ends and conical shoulders distant therefrom to enter the bottle necks .and seat the shoulders against the mouths of the bottles for turningthe bottles while lifting them between the cleaning brushes.

15. 1n a bottle washing machine a bottle conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted' position, rotary` cleaningbrushes above the conveyor, vertically moving lifting means beneath the conveyor for lifting the bottles from the conveyor and moving them against the brushes, a yertically movable funnel means surrounding the lifting means, means for moving the conve or step by step and for 4,moving the funne means previous to the upward movement of the lifting means for engaging and centering the bottle necks to receive the lifting means.

16. In a bottle vwashing machine, a chain conveyor for carrying the bottles in an inverted position, a reciprocating feeding means engaging the conveyor for moving it step by step, rotary brushes above the conveyor, bottle lifting spindles beneath the conveyor for engaging and lifting the bottles against the brushes, funnel-like bottle centering means in register with the spindles for centerin the bottle necks in alignment with the splndles before the spindles are raised, and means for connecting the reciprocating feeding means for the chain conveyor with the funnel-like bottle centering means for permitting feeding engagement of said feeding means only when the bottle centering means is lowered out of its position for engagement with the bottles.

17. In a bottle washing machine a chain conveyor for carrying the bottles in an inverted position, a suitably operated rock shaft, crank arms thereon, chain engaging pusher bars carried by the arms for moving the chains ste by step, rotary cleaning brushes above t e conveyor, vertically mov able lifter rods beneath the conveyor adapted to engage and lift the bottles from the conveyor and move them against the' brushes, a vertically movable bottle engaging and centering means forycentering the necks of the bottles in register with the bottle lifting rods, and links connecting the bottle engaglng means with the chain pusher bars for holding them out of position for engaging the chains while the bottle engagin means are in a raised position.

18. n a bottle washing machine a roller chain conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted position, a rock shaft having crank arms, pusher bars pivotally mounted on the crank arms and provided with teeth for engaging the rollers of the conveyor chains and moving them step by step, a vertically reciprocating lifter cross head, suitably driven spindles' carried thereby for engaging and lifting the bottles from the conveyor, rotary cleaning brushes engaging the bottles when they leave the conveyor, an operating means for reciprocating the lifter cross head, reciprocating bottle guides for centering the bottle necks and operated by said operating means, a gearing connection between said operating means and said rock shaft whereby the rock shaft oscillates a number of times during each cycle of operation of said operating means, and a link connection between' the bottle guides and the chain pusher bars for holding the pusher bars out of position for engagement with the chains while the bottle ides are in a raised position.

19. In a. bottle washing machine a chain conveyor for conducting bottles in an inverted position, a rock shaft having crank arms, pusher bars pivotally mounted on the crank arms and provided with teeth for engaging the rollers of the conveyor chains and moving them step by step, bottle clamping means for engaging the bottles during their interval of rest, and means operated by the bottle clamping means for holding the pusher bars out of position for engagement with the chains.

` 20. In a bottle washing machine having bottle-clamping mechanism a conveyor for conducting bottles, crank operated reciprocating means for engaging the conveyor and moving it step by step, bottle washing mechanism for yoperating upon the bottles while clamped, and means operated by the bottle clamping mechanism for holding the conveyor feeding means out of engagement with the conveyor during the operation of the bottle Washing mechanism.

21. In a bottle washing machine having bottle clamping mechanism a bottle conveyor `for conducting bottles, a reciprocating crank operated feeding means for engaging and feedin the conveyor step by step, a bottle Wasling mechanism for operating upon the bottles while the conveyor is at rest and the bottles are clamped, actuating means for the bottle washing mechanism having a single revolution with each cycle iaaaeeo of operation of the machine, a feed driving means geared therewith having a plurality of revolutions for each cycle of operation of the machine for operating the feeding means, and a connection between the feeding means and the bottle clamping mechanism for holding the feeding means out of engagement with the conveyor during that portion of the cycle of operation in which the bottles are operated upon by the Washing mechanism.

22. In a bottle washing machine, a bottle conveyor, a feed driving shaft having several revolutions for each cycle of operation of the machine, a crank thereon, a rock shaft having a pair of cranks, a connecting rod connecting the crank of the rock shaft with the crank of the feed driving shaft, a feeding rod having pivotal connection with the other crank of the rock shaft and adapted to engage and feed the conveyor, and suitably operated means connected with the feeding rod for holding it GEO. L. MEYER, HOWARD KORTSEHL. 

